


Better Already

by NamelesslyNightlock



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Apples of Idunn, Avengers Family, Bruce Banner Is a Good Bro, Deals, Declarations Of Love, Drunk Tony Stark, Established Relationship, Feels, Fluff, Fluffy Ending, Frostiron Bingo Round 1, Happy Ending, Idiots in Love, Kissing, Loki (Marvel) Does What He Wants, Loki (Marvel) Lies, Loki (Marvel) is a Good Boyfriend, Loki (Marvel) to the rescue, M/M, POV Bruce Banner, POV Outsider, Pillow Fights, Protective Avengers, Protective Loki (Marvel), Protective Tony Stark, Relationship Reveal, Secret Relationship, Spells & Enchantments, Supportive Avengers, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, True Love's Kiss, Truth Spells
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:08:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24163369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NamelesslyNightlock/pseuds/NamelesslyNightlock
Summary: When Tony’s hit with a spell, the Avengers are forced to call for help. Problem is… the person best suited to fixing it isLoki.
Relationships: Bruce Banner & Tony Stark, Loki/Tony Stark, Tony Stark & Avengers Team
Comments: 69
Kudos: 999





	Better Already

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rabentochter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rabentochter/gifts).



> I literally have no memory of writing this whatsoever, the whole time editing I was basically just that Gandalf gif. You know the one. But, my notes say that Sesil prompted ~~and honestly given the content of this I definitely believe them xD~~ so, thank you Sesil ❤︎ (and thanks for the tagging/title help too ❤︎)  
>   
> This is also for my FI Bingo,  
>  **Square G1** — _Dialogue: “That’s a fine piece of ass you got there.”_

There was something wrong with Tony.

Bruce wasn’t entirely sure _what_ , exactly, but he knew that there had to be _something_ – since they’d all seen him get hit by the spell which Amora had sent in his direction. And the fact that she’d been cackling with enough vicious glee after hitting her mark – as well as the way that she had left immediately after, as if hitting Tony with a spell had been the entire _point_ of the spectacle which had left the Empire State Building glowing an eerie emerald – was certainly something to be concerned about.

Bruce had seen the whole thing from his perch in the quinjet– the Avengers hadn’t called for a Code Green, so he’d been able to sit it out. Usually, that would be a cause for relief, but after seeing Tony get hit by that spell and watching Amora just get away with it, Bruce half wished that he _had_ been part of the fray. Maybe Hulk could have stopped it from happening.

The moment Steve gave the all clear, Bruce was out of the jet and scurrying along the ground, running toward where Tony had landed heavily after taking the hit. Because even if he seemed to spend half his life telling the other Avengers that he was _not_ the kind of doctor that they all seemed to think he was, he still felt a kind of duty to his friends. Maybe it was just because they _were_ his friends– and Tony truly was one of the best that Bruce had ever had.

So seeing him standing there in the middle of the street, his armour already folded away as he stared up at the newly-decorated skyscraper with eyes that could only be described as starry…

Well, Bruce couldn’t help but be worried.

He slowed down as he drew closer, not knowing what Amora’s spell might have done, and the strangely tight set of Tony’s shoulders gave Bruce the impression that he should try to be cautious.

“Tony?” he asked– and his experience with spells thus far made him wary of asking if there was something wrong, so instead– “What are you looking at?”

“I think Loki would like it,” Tony replied, his eyes not moving from the green of the building.

“I think you might be right,” Bruce said warily. “Do you want to stay and look at it a little bit more, or do you want to go back to the tower?”

“Looking at it makes me sad,” Tony said lightly. “A lot of things make me sad these days.”

Bruce swallowed, his throat feeling oddly dry. “What kind of things?”

“All kinds of things,” Tony said. Then his breath escaped him in a sigh, and his gaze shifted from the building to look at Bruce instead. “I just… Sometimes, I just wish things could be better, you know? All the time. Just… _better.”_

“Yeah, I know,” Bruce replied. The sound of heavy footsteps against the ground caught Bruce’s attention– and he looked up to see that Steve and the others were hurrying forward. Bruce quickly gave them a shooing motion with his hands, coupled with a grimace– and they stopped in their tracks, giving Bruce room to continue trying to keep Tony calm. “I think we all wish things could be better, sometimes.”

“I don’t just want sometimes,” Tony said, his voice almost a groan. “I want _all the time_. I don’t… I don’t know if I can keep going like this.”

That… that did not sound promising. What on _Earth_ had Amora’s spell done?

“Shall we head back home?” Bruce asked, not sure of what else he could offer.

“Yeah, okay, but it’s not going to help,” Tony muttered. “There’s only one thing that can help me right now.”

Bruce drew in a breath. “And what might that be, Tony?” he asked, hoping that maybe, Tony would already know what it was that was needed to end the spell. That happened, sometimes. Rarely, but, the chance _was_ there to be hoped for—

And when Tony began to speak, Bruce felt that hope surge just a _little_ stronger– only for it to be kicked from his chest half a second later.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Tony whined. “I need Loki.”

Well.

Okay.

So that was certainly unexpected.

—|x|—

Tony wouldn’t sit still.

That, at least, was somewhat normal but– when Bruce was trying to examine him, it certainly didn’t help matters.

“Tony, I need you to hold still for a minute,” Bruce said as Tony reached up to rub at his chest for what had to be at least the fifteenth time while Bruce had been trying to check his pulse and blood pressure. “We don’t know what Amora did to you, and I have to check your vitals to make sure that you’re—”

“JARVIS already did,” Tony said. “And besides, I told you. The only person who can fix what I’ve got right now is _Loki._ You need to get him.”

“Tony,” Bruce sighed again. “We can’t bring Loki inside Avengers Tower. Especially not while you’re like this.”

“I know,” Tony said, running his hands through his hair, making it stick up on end. “I know that’s what you said, and I _know_ that you can’t, but that doesn’t stop me from _wanting_ him here. You don’t– none of you understand—”

“It’s okay, Tony,” Bruce said. “If worst comes to worst, we can contact Doctor Strange—”

“Don’t you _dare,”_ Tony snarled.

Bruce raised his hands. “Okay. But you know Loki can’t come here. Even if he _is_ the most powerful magic user we know of, he’s far too volatile. He’s more likely to turn us all into frogs than he is to fix you.”

“No, he isn’t,” Tony insisted.

“You know, he may be right.”

Bruce turned at Thor’s words, his expression oozing with a practiced _Really?_ Because now Tony would probably—

“You see?” Tony crowed. “Thor agrees with me. Someone go and get Loki already, JARVIS knows—”

“There has to be a better way,” Steve cut in. “Bruce is right, having Loki here would be risky on the best of days, but if he decides to take advantage—”

“Loki wouldn’t take advantage of me.” Tony’s brow creased into a frown. “Not ever.”

There was a long, drawn out pause as the same metaphorical lightbulb suddenly illuminated over every head.

Then—

“I think I’m starting to work out what’s going on here,” said Clint, his nose scrunching. “And I don’t think I like it.”

“Thor,” Natasha sighed. “You know Amora better than any of us. Is _this_ something that she’s done before?”

“Amora does have a way with a certain kind of spell,” Thor started—

“A love spell?” Steve asked, no doubt remembering the time that Amora had managed to make Thor trail after her like a little puppy dog. Bruce himself winced at the thought.

“There is no such thing as a love spell,” Thor said sternly. “But she can create attraction, and she is more than capable of creating _obsession_. I believe that is likely what this is– and if that is the case, then I believe that it would be best for us to contact Loki. Not only will he possibly calm Tony’s mind, but he is also the most proficient person at breaking such a curse, since—”

“Yeah, that’s what I _meant,”_ Tony cut in, his smile still bright. “Some of it, anyway. Loki is the best mage in all the Nine, you know? He can do practically _anything._ I bet he could get rid of Amora’s spell in a heartbeat.”

“Besides,” Steve said, his voice a little strained. “If we don’t bring Loki here, then we’re running the risk that Tony might just escape to go and find him.”

Thor nodded in agreement, and Natasha moved to start talking to JARVIS– but Bruce, on the other hand, winced. Because he knew Tony, and he could have predicted what was about to happen—

And, sure enough, Tony narrowed his eyes as he asked– “What do you mean, _escape?”_

Ah, yes. This was likely to be rather difficult.

—|x|—

By the time Loki arrived, the living room had turned into a war zone.

And, honestly. That is not a word that Bruce uses lightly.

Tony was standing on top of the sofa, one of the many cushions raised above his head in a threatening pose. Most of the cushions were already on the floor, having been launched at any Avenger who tried to get close, apparently thinking that they were trying to keep him locked up and away from Loki. Bruce himself had risked going the nearest, and was standing with his hands up in surrender– though he daren’t take another step, since if he even shifted on his feet Tony raised his cushion a little higher.

Clint had already managed to get an injury – _somehow,_ wow, Tony must be really putting force behind his throws, since the zipper on the cushion cover had split the skin above Clint’s left eyebrow – and Bruce didn’t want to risk that he would be next.

 _Thankfully_ , though, before Tony came to a decision as to whether or not Bruce deserved a pillow to the face, a familiar and unusually welcome voice sounded through the living room.

“When JARVIS told me that the Avengers were facing an emergency, this was certainly not something I pictured.”

 _“Loki!”_ Tony exclaimed brightly– and then he leapt from the couch, his cushion falling from his hands as he sprinted over to where Loki had appeared near the windows—

Which was _not_ a good idea, considering there were a lot of fallen cushions in his path and Tony was running with rather a single-minded focus. Bruce winced as Tony went flying through the air, his arms windmilling and his excited expression slipping into that momentary horror that one felt in the second before hitting the floor, his feet skittering a few extra steps as he tried to regain his balance—

And then he crashed right into Loki. Loki, it seemed, had not been expecting Tony’s sudden assault, for his eyes had widened and his response was far from quick– and so rather than stepping out of the way as Bruce had expected he would or even just standing still for Tony to crash into him, when Tony smashed into Loki head on they both went down to the ground in a flurry of curses and leather.

Bruce took a few steps forward, worried that Tony was about to end up with a knife in his gut—

But then he stopped in his tracks.

Loki was lying chest to the ground, elbows bent, palms flat, and expression half way to murderous. Tony, on the other hand, was lying on _top_ of Loki, sprawled over his waist at a ninety-degree angle and rather blatantly staring at—

“That's a fine piece of ass you got there,” Tony said. “Well, a fine _ass_. A fine everything, really, now that I think about it, though of course I don’t actually _have_ to think about it, since I knew that already.”

“ _Stark,”_ Loki hissed, the emphasis that he placed on Tony’s name sounding a little more… _forceful_ , rather than angry. Bruce frowned. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but, there was _something—_

“What?” Tony asked brightly, twisting around so he was lying straight over the length of Loki’s spine instead.

And Loki’s brows pinched for a moment– and then he was up, shoving Tony to the side as he got to his feet.

Tony huffed, but he didn’t seem too put out. He stumbled upright as well, and then slung one arm around Loki’s shoulders, apparently unaware of the way that Loki’s glare was promising fire and death.

“Stark,” Loki said again, his voice a little tight as he pried Tony’s arm off his shoulder– only for Tony to wrap his other arm around Loki’s waist. “Get off me—”

“I can’t help it,” Tony said, his expression full of stars. “You’re amazing, and I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you—”

“ _No,”_ Loki said, his voice sharp. “No, you _don’t.”_ Then he turned his glare on the Avengers. “What did you do to him?”

“It’s as I said, Mr Liesmith,” JARVIS spoke up, almost making Bruce jump. “Mr Stark was hit by a spell of unknown properties, cast by Amora.”

Thor cleared his throat, and stepped a little closer. He had been hiding around a doorway since the cushions had begun to fly. “If you heal him, Loki, then—”

“You’ll owe me a favour?” Loki’s eyes were suddenly bright and calculating, and Bruce was suddenly _sure_ that nothing good was going to come of this.

Thor opened his mouth, and Bruce was _about_ to step in because – _honestly –_ but someone else beat him to it.

“We’re not stupid enough to give you such an open-ended bargain,” Natasha snapped– and Thor’s previously agreeable expression turned suddenly stern in solidarity.

“Right,” said Thor. “Be more specific please, Loki.”

Loki breathed out through his nose– and Tony reached up to stroke Loki’s hair as if in comfort. Loki shoved his hand off – but didn’t even attempt to remove Tony’s octopus-hold on his waist – before speaking. “I will do this on _one_ condition,” he said, looking directly at Thor. “One thing that you _know_ I have been trying to get my hands on for a while.”

“Loki,” Thor said, his jaw clenching. “I cannot simply—”

“I know that you can,” Loki snapped. “So it all just depends on how _much_ you want me to fix whatever is wrong with Stark.”

Thor looked like he was thinking about it– and Bruce was _dying_ to know what it was that Loki was asking for. He’d heard Thor complain that one of the reasons Loki had been so absent from causing trouble on Earth recently was because he was spending so much time wreaking havoc in Asgard, but Thor had never explicitly said what Loki was doing. Now, it seemed that he had been trying to steal something, but… _what?_

“Your manipulation skills are marvellous,” Tony said, his whisper cutting through Bruce’s musings– because of course, he’d ‘whispered’ so loudly that the whole room could hear him. “Really. I love it. I love _you_. I love the way that you smirk when you’re being dark too, have I ever told you that before?” Tony leaned a little closer, standing on his toes in an attempt to reach Loki’s jaw with his lips. “Because it is _dark_ , but it makes your eyes shine, and you look so gorgeous that I could just—”

“Okay!” Thor said loudly. “ _Fine._ But, Loki—”

“I’ve given you my terms,” Loki cut in, putting a firm hand on Tony’s chest and pushing him away. Tony’s pout was _lethal_ , but Loki’s gaze was still on Thor. “Take them or leave them.”

Thor’s jaw was tight, but he gave a final, firm _nod._

“I told them that you’d be able to fix me,” Tony said, leaning his head onto Loki’s shoulder and looking up at him as if Loki was everything in the world that Tony held dear. “I knew you could do it, Lokes.”

“This is weird,” said Clint. “I don’t think I like this at all—”

“Then leave, birdbrain,” Tony snapped as he swung his gaze around, his tone switching from honey-sweet to sharp between one breath and the next—

Loki snorted at that– and the look of pure delight that crossed Tony’s face after having made him _laugh_ was almost cute. If, you know, it had been genuine rather than placed there by a spell.

Clint did take Tony’s advice though, following a little ushering from Steve– and he and Natasha both stepped out the room, Clint with a huff and Natasha with a roll of her eyes. Bruce went to follow as well, but—

“No, we should stay here,” Steve said, his gaze flicking to Tony and Loki.

Thor frowned. “Loki will hold to his word,” he said firmly. “He will not risk what I just promised him.”

Steve didn’t look convinced. “Still.”

“Sure, fine,” Bruce groaned. Steve was going to _owe_ him one for this.

But when he turned back to face his friend and their enemy, what he saw had his eyes growing wide.

Loki had _finally_ managed to coax Tony to step away a little, and he was holding his fingers to Tony’s temple, his brow creased with a frown. Tony’s hands were curled around Loki’s waist, and his expression was so soft, so tender, that it almost took Bruce’s breath away.

Of course, it was Amora’s spell that was making him look like that. Thor had said, though, that there was no such thing as love spell, and Tony really did look…

No. It was just attraction and obsession. It had to be.

Then Loki suddenly made a low, angry noise in the back of his throat, and his hands pulled away from Tony to form fists at his sides instead.

“What’s wrong?” Tony asked, sounding genuinely concerned. “You shouldn’t be sad, Loki. How can I fix it?”

Loki’s jaw clenched. “I am going to _murder_ Amora,” he hissed.

“That seems a little harsh,” Tony commented, reaching up to pat Loki’s cheek– though the pat turned into a soft stroke a moment later, as if Tony couldn’t help himself. Well, of course he couldn’t– he was still under the spell. “Have you had your tea yet today, sweetheart?”

Loki breathed in slowly through his nose as if trying to calm himself down. “Stark—”

“ _Anthony,”_ Tony said firmly. “You call me Anthony, or you call me elskan mín. Not Stark.”

Thor gasped, but Bruce paid him no attention as he frowned. Tony’s words were more than _odd_ , because Tony _hated_ it whenever people tried to use his full name. He was _Tony_ to the whole world—

Well, apparently, the whole world except Loki. At least while Amora’s spell was in play.

And it seemed that this was a battle Loki wasn’t willing to bother with. “Anthony,” he said. “I can fix this. But I don’t…” His gaze turned to where Bruce, Steve, and Thor were still standing, still watching. “I don’t think you’ll thank me for it,” he sighed.

“Oh, I’ll thank you,” Tony said, his grin _wicked_ now. He leaned closer, the hand on Loki’s cheek sliding around the back of his neck and burying in Loki’s hair, his lips parting—

“You’re not in your right mind,” Loki groaned, turning his head so that Tony’s lips landed on his cheek instead.

“Maybe,” Tony hummed, shifting just enough so that they were about an inch apart. “But I want to kiss you, anyway. I _always_ want to kiss you. You know, I lay in bed at night and I dream about kissing your lips, wishing that you were there with me every single moment. I want to be _with_ you, properly, forever. I want to wake up beside you _every_ morning, and I want to go to sleep in your arms. I spend very moment aching for you, Loki, I really, really do, I mean it. I love you, more than anything in the world, and I want you with me. _Always.”_

Loki’s eyes were a little wide. Bruce was surprised he didn’t smite Tony off the face of the Earth.

“What did she actually do to him?” Bruce asked, hoping to diffuse a little bit of the tension– and besides, Tony _was_ his friend, and he wanted to know what was wrong.

Loki’s gaze flicked to Bruce, and it was a few seconds before he spoke. Bruce figured he was reining in his irritation after Tony’s speech.

“There are two ways that I could fix this,” Loki said. “I could weave a complicated counter-spell, but it would take time and would include risks—”

“I trust you,” Tony piped—

“— _or_ ,” Loki continued, “I could end the spell the way that Amora has clearly intended.” His jaw clenched in annoyance. “It would be far easier. But… I assume that we will not be left alone for this?”

“You assume correctly,” Steve replied.

“ _Lokiiiiii,”_ Tony whined, drawing Loki’s attention once again. “You didn’t answer Brucie’s question. That might help, you know, might help them see that you _actually—”_

“ _Well_ , she merely…” Loki’s gaze flickered to Bruce and the others again, and then he shook his head. “I will tell you once the spell has been lifted.”

“He’s hiding something,” Steve muttered, looking like he was about to run across the room and rip Tony from Loki’s arms. 

“Yes,” Thor agreed, frowning– and there was something a little odd in his voice which had not been there before. “But, wait for Loki to heal Stark. He _will_.”

Bruce had to wonder what it was Thor had promised Loki for him to be so sure that Loki would not leave. But, their earlier secrecy made it clear that they would not give anything else away, and besides—

Loki was a master at hiding his expression but even so, Bruce could still see the wariness in his eyes. For whatever reason, Loki was on the defensive.

However – _somehow –_ it would seem that there was one person capable of breaking down his walls.

“Are you going to make a spell?” Tony asked. “You are _very_ good at that. You’re good at everything, except cooking. But I think you should get points for trying, even if you tried to feed me burned pancakes the other day when you—”

“Oh by the Norns,” Loki groaned. “You’re just going to throw it all out anyway, aren’t you?”

Tony smiled. “I’ll do anything for you,” he said. “Anything at all—”

Then Loki cut him off– by surging down and catching Tony’s lips with his own.

The kiss was chaste, and it was short– but it was more than enough for Bruce to feel like he had been caught off guard and thrown over the edge of a cliff.

Because—

Oh.

Well, maybe it was just as Loki said, that this was merely a simpler alternative to creating a counterspell. Or maybe—

All arguments melted from Bruce’s mind as Tony started to kiss Loki back, melting into the embrace with a groan. And when they finally parted – the kiss coming to a natural end, since the three Avengers gaping on the opposite side of the room were all far too stunned to do anything about it – the bizarre pair lingered together in what was clearly a soft moment.

“Hey, Lokes,” Tony whispered. “I _did_ miss you.” He kept their foreheads pressed together for a moment longer before he leaned back and opened his eyes, and he was smiling as he spoke again. “You’re not telling me _that_ was how you broke the spell? How completely cliché.”

Loki did not smile. He also didn’t push Tony away– in fact, his hold around Tony’s waist only seemed to tighten.

_Huh._

“It would seem that Amora has a sense of humour,” he muttered.

Tony’s smile pulled into a full-fledged grin– and Bruce was still feeling very confused, something that only intensified as Tony said– “True love’s kiss? _Really?”_

“Don’t be ridiculous. Anyone who truly loved you could have done it, even if they are a friend,” Loki said. Then he appeared to consider something for a moment, but it seemed that he reached his decision as he added, “However, I _am_ glad that JARVIS called me here, rather than Strange. I doubt you would have enjoyed that.”

Tony snorted. “Yeah, probably not.” Then he got a certain kind of glint in his eye. “You know, I wouldn’t have let anyone else kiss me though, right?”

Loki’s lips twitched then– something that Tony didn’t seem to miss, if the flash of delight that crossed his face was anything to go by. And it was so similar to the look Tony had worn when he’d made Loki laugh earlier that… Bruce had to wonder again what _exactly_ it was that Amora had done.

Or, perhaps, whether Loki had actually managed to remove the spell at all. 

“I am still going to murder Amora,” Loki said, though his expression was far lighter than it was.

“I dunno,” Tony said, tilting his head and stroking his thumb over Loki’s lower lip before letting his hand fall to rest on Loki’s hip. “I’m thinking we should take her out to dinner in thanks, actually.”

Loki frowned. “What…?”

“I haven’t seen you in weeks,” Tony said. “This is nice. Even if it is when—”

Tony cut himself off, and his eyes widened as his gaze landed on Bruce, Steve, and Thor.

“Oh,” he said. “Uh. So, guys. I’d like to introduce you to my boyfriend?”

The noise Thor made sounded a little bit like a strangled cat. Steve, meanwhile, appeared to be choking.

“Maybe we _should_ call Strange,” Bruce suggested warily—

And _there_ was Loki’s famously fiery irritation, burning bright in his eyes, and even though Bruce _knew_ that Loki couldn’t do a thing to hurt him he couldn’t help but feel that instinctive need to take a step back. But before Loki could say anything—

“No, the spell’s gone,” Tony said simply, leaning a little more into Loki’s arms and somehow managing to calm him in an instant– and Bruce couldn’t help but notice that Tony’s expression turned more than a little defensive. “I love him, he loves me. Is that clear enough?”

“So, uh…” Thor looked as if something in his brain had short-circuited. “Loki, that golden apple you wanted, that was for…”

“Anthony, yes,” Loki said shortly. “And I upheld my end of the deal. The spell is gone, he’s fine. I expect my payment within two days.” His expression softened as he looked back to Tony. “It seems that he’s rather prone to getting into trouble.”

Tony grinned. “Yeah. But you love it.”

And when Tony didn’t respond to the use of his full name at all… well, to be honest, Bruce was already convinced. Sure, perhaps it was a little unexpected, but. This _was_ Tony Stark.

And while Steve and Thor both seemed like they were busy processing, Bruce moved a little closer. Because Tony still looked defensive, as if he were half expecting a fight– and Bruce… well. No matter who Tony had quite clearly fallen in love with, he was still Bruce’s friend. And Bruce, as always, just wanted to make sure that he was going to be all right.

“I’d like to know something,” Bruce said, loud and firm enough that the pair both turned back to him again. “What _did_ Amora’s spell do?”

“And don’t try to lie this time,” Steve added.

Tony and Loki exchanged a loaded glance, and it seemed as if an entire conversation passed between them in a matter of moments– for when Loki met Bruce’s gaze, he had lost all of the hesitation he’d held earlier. Hesitation which Bruce now recognised as a reluctance to divulge details without Tony’s consent.

“She lowered Anthony’s inhibitions, making him dismiss any consequence of acting on his desires,” Loki explained.

“She basically made me drunk,” Tony sighed. “Or high. It felt a bit like when they give you the good stuff at the hospital.”

“So everything you said was true?” Bruce asked. “Including all that about… feeling sad?”

Loki frowned immediately at that– and, to be honest, the obvious care that Loki had for Tony’s wellbeing calmed Bruce far more than anything else could have.

“Let’s just say that it’s hard,” Tony said, his hold on Loki tightening just a little, his head leaning back into Loki’s shoulder. “Having to hide the best thing that ever happened to me from my friends.”

“Well,” Bruce said, offering a smile– his decision now firmly made. “You don’t have to, anymore.”

Thor nodded, and cleared his throat. “This might be a surprise,” he said. “But I am happy for you both.”

Loki’s expression went a little blank at that, but Tony’s smile returned, albeit with a touch of confusion.

“We’ll make sure the others leave you alone as well,” Steve agreed.

“And if anyone has a thing to say about it, then they’re going to have to go through me,” Bruce finished.

“You mean…” Tony’s eyes were wide as he glanced first between the Avengers, and then back to his– _boyfriend_. “We don’t have to hide, anymore?”

“No,” Loki replied. “No, we don’t.”

They leaned together again, and suddenly– Bruce felt like an intruder. In a way, he supposed they had been the whole time, he simply hadn’t understood what it was he had been intruding upon.

“Come on,” Bruce said, gesturing for the others to follow him. “We should give them some privacy.”

This time, there were no arguments, no suggestions that Loki should remain supervised. They just turned and left, their own expressions far more relaxed and open than they had been before. After all, this might have been far from anything they could have expected, but… in the grand scheme of things? Tony was clearly happy with Loki, and that was all that mattered.

He didn’t need the further proof but, if he had– when Bruce glanced over his shoulder while they walked out of the door, Tony and Loki were gazing into each other’s eyes, their expressions far softer than Bruce had ever seen either of them wear. And in that moment, Bruce couldn’t help but remember the words Tony had spoken not long after being hit with the spell.

 _Sometimes, I just wish that things could be better_.

And now that Tony no longer had to hide, now that he could be with his lover as often as he wanted– Bruce thought that, hopefully, things _would_ be.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [5 Times Loki Had a Problem with Tony Stark](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28713003) by [Pies-and-Heroes (Little_Miss_Anime_Luva)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Little_Miss_Anime_Luva/pseuds/Pies-and-Heroes)




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